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Facebook

Asking Peter Dutton …

A couple of days ago I received this message from a Facebook friend:

“Hi John, Part of the bloated Dutton budget is spent on this group [AIDR]. Young Peter has been strangely silent of late so may be an appropriate time to highlight his expertise.”

A Google search and it tells me that:

The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) develops, maintains and shares knowledge and learning to support a disaster resilient Australia.

So why haven’t we heard about this institute before or during the course of this ongoing disaster? What is the reason for its existence, and why does it come under the umbrella of Peter Dutton’s department?

What is their total funding and what is it spent on? With a bit of checking I find out that it is funded by the by the Attorneys General’s Department. “Now that’s a bit strange,” I think to myself.

One of a few web pages in their name describes their function:

“The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) develops, maintains and shares knowledge and learning to support a disaster resilient Australia. Building on extensive knowledge and experience in Australia and internationally, we work with government, communities, NGOs, not-for-profits, research organisations, education partners and the private sector to enhance disaster resilience through innovative thinking, professional development and knowledge sharing.

AIDR is supported by its partners: the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, AFAC, the Australian Red Cross and the Bushfire & Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.”

I asked myself; if the government has a department already functioning for the purpose of disaster resilience why is there this sudden reactive flurry for the need of more information?

The site has a link that includes an Annual Report but it doesn’t list any financials.

It also links to one of its partners The Department of Home Affairs.

“The Department of Home Affairs is a central policy agency, providing coordinated strategy and policy leadership for Australia’s national and transport security, federal law enforcement, criminal justice, cyber security, border, immigration, multicultural affairs, emergency management, and trade-related functions.”

Turning our attention back to Peter Dutton, is he hiding a secret? Perish the thought and bite your tongue. Interesting too that Twiggy’s $70M is actually $10M, plus $10M to his private foundation and $50M to duplicate the stated raison d’etre of the AIDR

What was strange, however, was that in this article by Sarah McPhee Twiggy uses the word “resilience” twice.

“We know that this is a matter of national resilience,” Mr Forrest told reporters in Perth today.

“This goes to a holistic assessment of where the nation is at and what we need to do to improve resilience.”

There is also this sentence:

“In addition, he will provide $10 million through the couple’s Minderoo Foundation to build a “volunteer army” to deploy to regions devastated by bushfires and another $10 million for communities in collaboration with the Australian Red Cross, the Salvation Army and other agencies on the ground.”

Note that the same agencies are mentioned on multiple occasions.

AIDR is funded by the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department through Emergency Management Australia, managed by AFAC and supported by the Australian Red Cross and Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC. (From the 2016-2017 AIDR Annual Report).

Why does this word “resilience” keep popping up?

Yet another google search takes me to another AIDR page sub-headed “Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub.”

There are a number of web pages all dealing with the work of the AIDR and I’m wondering why this is necessary.

The only place I can find money mentioned is on page that mentions the doubling of funding by the Turnbull government. They get an extra $1million.

The Knowledge Hub page tells us that:

“Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub. The Knowledge Hub is a national, open-source platform that supports and informs policy, planning, decision-making and contemporary good practice in disaster resilience”

“This goes to a holistic assessment of where the nation is at and what we need to do to improve resilience.”

Then when I read Kaye Lee’s piece for The AIMN in which she talks about Twiggy Foresters conditional $70 million donation and the formation of a volunteer group I notice that the AIDR are forming a volunteer group in WA. Is this the same thing, I ask myself?

“The Volunteer Leadership Program (VLP) equips emergency sector volunteers with the skills and confidence to grow as leaders. The VLP experience is immersive and collaborative, bringing together volunteers from different organisations and agencies to build knowledge and share experiences with each other. The program explores practical leadership frameworks through interactive learning, and participants gain both self-awareness and an enhanced ability to understand and contribute to their organisations.“

Now it must be connected, I say to myself, but why the secrecy? Why is the AIDR never mentioned but the Prime Minister uses the word resilience in every interview? As he did with David Speers.

Another thing I find rather odd is that the site never mentions any names. Surely the NIDR has a chairperson, a committee or some form of management.

But for some reason it appears to be a faceless organisation. And why is their no mention of the current crisis on their web site?

There are so many questions that require answers but I have reached a dead end.

Yet I remain convinced that there is something shonky about all of this.

Could it be that the government will award an amount of money, matched by Twiggy’s donation to this obscure voluntary organisation?

Shades of the Barrier Reef Foundation. Anyway, I have gone as far as I can go with it …

Then as I’m about to close I find this on the John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations. Again the word “resilience” pops up.

The article is dated 13 January and written by Abul Rizvi.

Where have Dutton and Pezzullo been hiding?

The culpability of Dutton and Pezzullo for the bushfire crisis.

Peter Dutton is the senior minister responsible for the Home Affairs portfolio that includes Emergency Management Australia (EMA). EMA is a division of the Department of Home Affairs whose Secretary is Mike Pezzullo. EMA says its role is to “build a disaster resilient Australia that prevents, prepares, responds and recovers from disasters and emergencies”. Thus in their empire building, Dutton and Pezzullo took on responsibility for preventing and preparing Australia for these bushfires. So why the eerie silence from both of them?”

Now we have two identities working on this resilience. EMA and AIDR, and both under the control of Peter Dutton.

Yet another Google search reveals a volunteer group known as the Australian Emergency Management Volunteer Forum, and guess what? A representative from Home Affairs attends their meetings and the Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs provides secretariat support to the AEMVF.

This all goes beyond any coincidence, but I cannot put my finger on it.

My thought for the day

We see what we are thinking and feeling; seldom what we are looking at.

 

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88 comments

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  1. New England Cocky

    Uhm ….. a political skeptic disenchanted with the amoral practices of too many of the Smirko Morriscum Liarbral Nat$ misgovernment could quite easily conclude that among that presumably large alleged IGO there lurks a number of ghost employees quietly banking their income in their offshore Cayman Islands accounts.

    Too many years ago my mother was the Secretary to the HR Manager in an international hotel where wages were paid in cash by distribution through section managers. Somehow those managers always found that some employees on the books were never at work, so what to do with those wage envelopes? The practice applied all the way to the top of hotel management.

  2. Ken

    Your article John certainly makes me wonder what is going on.
    I’m very suspicious about anything that Dutton is involved in.

  3. Keitha Granville

    Star chambers, secret organisations – hmmm, starting to look more and more like Hitler and his buddies back in the day. If there is such a group for managing disasters why isn’t it??

  4. Bill Bellew

    Good detective work John. Deserves attention. FoI process presumably a waste of effort? Or should we go there?

  5. Harry Lime

    @Keitha
    The first thing that went through my addled brain was, is this Germany in 1935?It stinks to high heaven when you have grifters and crooks like Forrest and Dutton involved with a shitload of skulduggery taking place in the shadows.Why hasn’t Dutton been in evidence?He’s busy organising for the inevitable putsch.With Morrison becoming more vulnerable every time he flaps his upside down gob,the walloper is one step closer to claiming his rightful place at the top of the shitpile.Happy days.Jesus.

  6. John Lord

    I would at least like to know what their budget is. Perhaps the Skills of Kaye Lee might dig deeper than my own.

  7. Kaye Lee

    John,

    Whilst I haven’t found that specific agency’s budget yet, the 19-20 budget has allocated a lot less for disaster recovery than they spent in 2018-19.

    Have a look at the table on what is labelled page 33 in the statement (or 25/67 on that thing where you can type in the page you want)

    eg Disaster Recovery Payment 2018-19 was $177.4 million compared to a budgeted $20 million for 19-20

    Disaster Recovery Allowance $5.5 million in 18-19 with a budget of $75,000 for this year

    And you might get a laugh from what is labelled page 43 where they list their performance criteria

    “Provision of national leadership in emergency management reduces the impact of disasters on Australian communities.”

    https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/reports-and-pubs/budgets/2019-20-home-affairs-pbs.pdf

  8. wam

    A fabulous read today, lord.
    it could be the institute(they boys love ‘institutes;) is merely a “: an organization for the promotion of a cause”
    We know why red cross is in because they take 10% on costs(not quite indue but not bad cash collection)
    The earliest reference to the institute I found, so far, comes under DRANZEN but the testimonials are all recent like yesterday recent with one writing ‘the year went so fast…’
    Bushfire, Community participation, Disaster risk reduction, hazard, Wildfire” was published under ’04’
    ‘….This paper examines the experiences and views of CFU members after bushfires in the Blue Mountains, NSW in October 2013’
    I am going to have fun as anything to do with dutton has a myriad of tendrils but retired coppers who amass $30m plus are rare and exceptionally good at whatever they are going.
    One tendril:
    https://www.bnhcrc.com.au/about/board-staff

    ps your thought show from whence your truth, at times, may come?

  9. Arthur Tarry

    Dutton. This man is not an intellectual giant so I would suspect incompetence and bungling rather than the planning and thinking of a visionary politician. However, rat cunning, gutter politics, authoritative conviction and self-belief as well as incoherent thinking is entirely possible. It still bewilders me how this individual increased his majority at the last election and how he could be a senior minister in Morrison’s cabinet.

  10. Josephus

    Get one or more of those ethical, pro bono lawyers on to this, plus four corners, if that programme still has the courage to do its job…

  11. Robin Alexander

    After furore last day house reps sitting government attempted to push 2 bills unseen by labor (illegal Parliamentry practise)Albo stated TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENT! 2 days later in media interview CORMAN STATED “We don’t NEED A PARLIAMENT” I Found this astounding! Is this really what this evil LNP about long term? Recalling House Feb 4th t pas 2 URGENT BILLS? Same 2 the tried sneaking in last day sitting in Dec? RELIGIOUS bill & workplace bill rebirth of HOWARDS WORK CHOICES? LAMBIE & PATRICK SHOWN TOGETHER PERUSING papers suggest they will agree to pass if their changes agreed to!unbelievable! Both bills need burning! Disastrous for employment?religious one back to late 40/early 50’s? No employment big areas unless same belief? Job search workers no rights! My try to include UNION BUSTING BILL ALSO they are hoping for quick passing while many members overseas holidays we are in dangerous times with serious hidden agendas not good for most population!

  12. Andrew Smith

    Coincidentally the Rockefeller (founders and former major shareholders in Standard Oil/Exxon Mobil/Chevron) Foundation has been promoting ‘resilience’

    https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/our-work/topics/climate-resilience/

    They have a track record of PR appearing to do something e.g. ‘sustainability’ and attracting funds from others.

  13. Ken C

    So here we have a govt department AIDR set up for emergency management/disaster management – we have a govt senior minister and department (Home Affairs) that are responsible! Yet the govt has seen it necessary to engage an additional body – national Bushfire Recovery Agency headed up by a former AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin … many inconsistencies, duplication of services etc costing additional money and resources.

  14. Jasey

    I think what we should all be very afraid of is that all the donations now bring asked for as the only thing acceptable (rather than food and supplies) will soon need the mentioned volunteers to work out what to do with it. Be very specific about where you donate if you do….

  15. Kaye Lee

    In the budget there was also this announcement

    “The Government will revise its Fund arrangements to establish the Emergency Response Fund (the Fund) from 1 October 2019, to fund natural disaster recovery and response initiatives above and beyond existing state and federal programs.

    The Fund will be established through legislation as a Commonwealth Investment Fund and will be managed by the Future Fund Board of Guardians, to provide a sustainable source of funding for recovery from catastrophic natural disasters. The initial size of the Fund will be approximately $3.9 billion, reflecting the transfer of uncommitted funds currently in the dormant Education Investment Fund.

    The Government would make available up to $150 million per annum from the Fund from 2019-20 to 2023-24 following a significant and catastrophic natural disaster. The Fund will only be drawn down in this way where the Government determines there is a need for additional support beyond existing national disaster response programs. ”

    page 8 https://budget.gov.au/2019-20/content/bp2/download/bp2.pdf

    They have $210 billion sitting there in their six funds.

  16. Patagonian

    Robin, of course they’d prefer not to have a parliament…well not one in which we can all participate. Democracy merely is a hindrance, so we see it hollowed out from within. The sheer number of goings-on that they refuse to comment on,the rank politicisation of the public sector, the mounting number of FOIs that are refused are all part of it. Barmy texted in his drought report FFS! And in the grip of the worst drought since records began, we aren’t allowed to know what’s in it. And now the Orange Cheeto is coming to visit Australia in what is no doubt noting more than an exercise in shoring up a wounded Morrison.

  17. Ron Chandler

    If it walks like a fraud, looks like a fraud, its numbers crunch like a fraud — it’s a fraud. And if it’s done by the Liberale-Nazionale Partei, it’s a fraud.

  18. Max Gross

    As always with anything involving the LNP: follow the money

  19. JLWhitaker

    Perhaps a question to a Labor Senator would reveal what is going on. If they are getting federal money, or state money for that matter, it has to appear in someone’s budget. Penny Wong could help maybe? Or Tony Burke?

  20. paul walter

    Wow!

    What a dark thread.

    All in all confirms much that an onlooker might surmise upon. whatever superficial steps taken back the obscured elements trying to control the globe will never be divorced from their own lunacy; what drives this insanity near the top of the food chain?

  21. David Stakes

    Nice bit of Sleuthing there, and something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

  22. HumeAndTwain

    It all leaves you shaking your head in disbelief. If Labor, Greens and Independents in Parliament play their cards adroitly, there is a “s***storm” just waiting to be unleashed when the next sitting occurs.

  23. silkworm

    The Home Affairs Dept sounds like it is awash with money. Plenty of opportunities for diddles and doddles.

  24. roma guerin

    My brain hurts. Thanks John, and Kaye, and everyone who ferrets out this information for us laypeople who don’t know where to start. There was once a time where ‘conspiracy theory’ was hurled at anyone who sought transparency on any subject. We have moved on a treat when informed that conspiracy is alive and kicking and has been planned and comprehensively effected for much longer than we know. We now know they are coming for us.

  25. lawrence winder

    Hmm… scary more than shonky, I think!

  26. Sharelle Toomey

    C’mon on Aussies – your tax-paying dollars are being funnelled straight to the Liberal Party through pseudo-organizations just like the Barrier Reff Foundation and this AIDR, and nothing is being spent on looking after this country. It’s time to rise up and smite these shonky hand-in-your-pocket pollies and put them straight into jail with the worst of criminals. This is a fair dinkum Mafia organization.

  27. Matters Not

    Yes HumeAndTwain there’s momentum building against Bridget – and the irony is that the “numbers” will probably depend on one of the greatest personal rorters of all time – Pauline Hansen. No doubt Labor hard-heads will caution against going too far – with many skeletons best left in the cupboard at both the State and Federal levels.

    As for Home Affairs being awash with dollars – maybe not – given the alleged need to cut overtime for those on patrol boats. (Probably just a well timed ploy by Mike to get a few dollars more. Yes senior public servants engage in politicking too.)

    As for this supposed ‘rort’ under discussion, why not have faith in the Auditor General to do the ferreting? Or are they too focused on the rats and mice and can’t see the big picture?

  28. New England Cocky

    @Ron Chandler: “And if it’s done by the Liberale-Nazionale Partei, it’s a fraud.”

    Well done!! A most fitting description of the charlatans running Australia.

    “Nazionale” has a nice ring about it; may I use it? Or possibly altered to “Nazional$”? There, that gets the all important “$” included.

  29. Margaret Pestorius

    I think you’ll find ‘resilience’ is a commonly used word from disaster response theory.

    It’s a key objective of preparation for disaster response: community resilience.

    It has a large theoretical base some of which is situated in community development theory.

  30. Juno Jenkins

    “Resilience” is all too commonly used. It goes alongside “adaptation” and used often enough it maintains the idea that disasters are natural and evolutionary and therefore we have to learn to live with them. it tries to give us personal status and, by default it gives power to the promoters. It takes away the attention to the real basic cause and the need for action!

  31. Susan Sasson

    To answer your question about where its all coming from, here is a clear and precise answer to that question, it is all coming from UN Agenda 2030, WORD FOR WORD !
    Read about it here https://unescap.org/sites/default/files/pre-ods/CDR(5)_1E.pdf (You may well get a warning pop up saying its unsafe to proceed, just click advance and then proceed to, it is not unsafe}.

    Every single policy, every single Bill the Senate passes, every single action that our government does, is lifted straight out of UN Agenda 21 and UN Agenda 2030 and this has been going on for very long time. The SOCIALIST/COMMUNIST UN is running our country, not our elected government and time that Australians woke the hell up to it. The implementation of the UN Agendas has been UNCONSTITUTIONAL and an act of TREASON. This is why the Foreign Interference Bill was introduced, sneakily the government in the fine print of the legislation added that citizens could no longer charge the government with treason and they gave themselves permission to turn the forces against protesters! The Bill has since been passed in the Senate. The legislation was never about terrorism, it was all about taking more rights away from the people behind their backs. https://concit.org/bastards-why-the-government-wants-foreign-interference-legislation/

    It is truly frightening and alarming what has been going on behind the peoples backs !

    Our government was elected to follow the Will of the people and to serve the people, I did not and most likely you didn’t either, elect the UN to run our country, which they are now doing without a mandate from the people (because government kept the UN Agendas secret from Australians at every level of government that is implementing it, including local councils). Government has denied they are implementing the UN agendas and even refuse to talk about them when asked, worse still, Australian taxpayers are paying the UN a BILLION dollars every year to destroy our country and control every facet of our lives.

    WAKE UP !!!!!!!

  32. Jay Mac

    Calm down Susan.

  33. Matters Not

    Re the above. You too can join what was once the fashionable conspiracy set along with Glenn Beck, Ted Cruz, Newt Gingrich, Cory Bernardi, and our current Senator Malcolm Roberts. Did you know that re this Climate Change ‘nonsense’:

    .. it provides the opportunity to do what they have always wanted to do, which is to sort of de-industrialise the western world. The collapse of communism was a disaster for the left and, really, they embraced environment as their new religion.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/14/agenda-21-is-conspiracy-theory-but-dont-dismiss-malcolm-roberts-as-a-harmless-kook

    Don’t think the recruitment efforts would be going too well at the moment. But they are resilient.

  34. Philip Atkinson

    Susan Sasson – Just to take your final sentence to task, here are the figures for Australian contributions to the UN:

    “Australia is the twelfth largest financial contributor to the UN. Australia contributed more than US$87 million in the years 2004 to 2006, with a regular budget of US$22.9 million, peacekeeping costs of approximately US$60 million, and over US$4 million contribution to International Tribunals.”

    A tad short of $1 billion?

  35. Kaye Lee

    I would like one example of how the UN is controlling my life. Thanks.

  36. Matters Not

    That you don’t even know it – aren’t aware etc – is clear evidence of their success and brilliance. Painless indoctrination. All these unknown unknowns. Word has it that Rupert is part of that plot too. It’s called the Deep UN State and it’s everywhere. Can’t leave home without it.

  37. Kaye Lee

    Is that the one where Jewish bankers have teamed up with climate scientists and environmentalists to take over the world?

  38. Michael Taylor

    Or the one claiming that George Soros funds this site?

  39. Kaye Lee

    Fluoride? Chemtrails? Lizard people?

    The days of the “internet ïnfluencer” are upon us.

  40. Michael Taylor

    Or that The Queen is a reptoid?

    Or the old one from pre-internet days that VCR machines had cameras in them so the government could spy on us. These days it’s the microwave oven.

  41. Harry Lime

    MT,don’t know about the Queen,but Phil the Greek certainly measures up.

  42. Michael Taylor

    He sure does, Harry. He looks like a reptile as it is. No need for a disguise or any shape-shifting.

  43. Mishkafloo

    Another piece to the puzzle is EMA/AIDR used to run the Emergency Management Institute in Mt Macedon Victoria.
    It was a cross-jurisdictional institute where staff from all the emergency services could come together to learn skills and share experience. And not just emergency services. Some workshops and networks included disaster-related NGOs, teachers, policy makes, etc.
    Plus a lot of cross-jurisdictional training in the Australasian Inter-Sevice Incident Management System (AIIMS) was held there, allowing people in similar roles across Australia to learn and network together. A lot of good collaboration happened over the dinner table.

    The federal government essentially shut it down in 2015, moving it from a residential institute where people could all attended courses, conferences and workshops together, to a skeleton staff in Canberra.
    This was a huge loss for the emergency services in Australia, as a lot of excellent work had come from training, workshops and groups linked to the EMI…
    https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/ajem-jan-2015-australian-emergency-management-institute-embarks-upon-new-chapter/

    They may be wanting to keep the AIDR quiet, lest people remember that their undermining of the emergency services has a few more skeletons in the closet…

  44. Andrew J Smith

    Fascinating crossover between dodgy Quangos in Oz, the UN, conspiracy theories and political media messaging; ‘wheels within wheels’.

    Conspiracy theories are popular in the US, Balkans, Russia, Turkey etc, wherever sub-optimal education, need for religious belief and observance of authority exist. Accordingly, conspiracy theories can be used to mask real conspiracies or events, and nowadays e.g. anti vaxx movement can be leveraged to help create antipathy towards science, including climate science, so people are unable to think critically but somewhere between confusion and emotions.

    Issue many have (in addition to some educated US friends) with the UN Sustainable Development is that everyone agrees ‘sustainability’ is a good thing but too much PR, events, talking, obfuscation, unclear outcomes with resistance from the nations that should really be doing something, e.g. Oz, US etc.. Like we see in Oz via PM/LNP is avoidance of any clear policy and/or action on carbon emissions etc. (due to fossil fuel influence), but happy to talk, talk…..

    What becomes masked are the roots of the UN (land in Manhattan was purchased by a fossil fuel oligarch post WWII to be gifted to the UN), UN Population Division (founded by the same family from the infamous ‘Population Council’, now queried by demographic researchers for juicing up population data via inflated fertility rates) and UN Sustainable goals (much influence again in promoting +ve feeling PR constructs); all back grounded by a strong whiff of fossil fuels and eugenics.

    A Green’s member I know focuses mostly (or totally obsesses) on ‘high immigration’, ‘sustainable population’ and then uses the (Nigel) ‘Faragism’ blaming the same for ‘traffic congestion’ while commuting (only) to and from work in an up market fossil fuel propelled car supported by (perverse) tax incentives….. while claiming to be ‘sustainable’…….

  45. Roswell

    There’s also the one about aliens crashing near Roswell, New Mexico.

    Really. How crazy is that?

  46. Terence Mills

    When Labor’s Ros Kelly was under the pump in 1994 for ‘sports rorts’ John Howard as opposition leader asked the following question of Kelly in Question Time :

    Does the minister agree that, whatever debate there may be concerning the principle of ministerial responsibility, the practice has almost invariably been that a minister resigns when his or her continued presence is causing damage and embarrassment to that government?

    Shortly after, Ros Kelly resigned – that should be the question that Albanese asks of Bridget McKenzie.

  47. Kaye Lee

    And Angus Taylor

  48. Harry Lime

    Whiteboard Cash? Barnyard waterboy? Cook miraculous preselection Messiah? Nah, it’s the Canberra bubble That’s if you can see it through the smoke…. and mirrors.

  49. Kaye Lee

    Let’s not forget Matthias “Brutus” Cormann and Helloworld. And then there’s Parakelia. And the contract to the shack on Kangaroo Island to provide services on Manus. The list goes on and on….

    J Edgar Tuber’s office leaked classified info about Medevac too.

  50. Carl Marks

    You are not to laugh at reptiles…I once watched a tele series where they took things over- one was a dark haired sheila who was ac tually a lizard.
    And don’t forget, come the rupture, only nice people will get invited on the space ships.
    Also, don’t tread on lizards, one might be a Jew and it could be the one controlling the secret Soviet armored divisons in Wyoming.

  51. Michael Taylor

    V, an 80s show.

    Turns out it wasn’t a true story.

  52. Kaye Lee

    Tell that to David Icke

  53. Lisa

    Love reading this site and congrats to all submittors.

    Kaye Lee – I find your insights always welcome and worthy. However, could I suggest that the science on Fluoride adverse effects should make this topic worthy of your scepticism, not support. Maybe have a closer look.

  54. Matters Not

    Re:

    the question that Albanese asks of Bridget McKenzie

    Maybe Senator Wong could ask it of Senator McKenzie followed by a supplementary or two while Albo could ask the same question of arrogant Angus for comparative purposes. Ideally – at the same time on the same day before an agreed response could be generated. Somewhat challenging to arrange but could be fruitful for ‘headline’ purposes.

  55. Matters Not

    Lisa, while KL might want to have a closer look at the harmful effects of fluoride she may also like to explore the real dangers of vaccination. (But probably not.)

  56. DT

    A whois.net lookup shows that the domain is registered to the ‘Australasian Fire Authorities Council Inc’. This may shred some light. Or deepen the plot.

  57. Cool Pete

    Dutton’s an evil bastard!

  58. John Lord

    Terrence Mills.

    How times have changed.

  59. Terence Mills

    MN

    You’re right, the question to McKenzie would have to be asked in the Senate and as you say, directed to Morrison in the Reps.

    The Board of Sport Australia is headed up by John Wylie AM with Steve Moneghetti as Deputy Chair. Having seen their carefully calibrated and detailed grant recommendations binned by LNP staffers in the minister’s office, I am surprised that the media haven’t contacted them or other Board members for comment.

    On the Angus Taylor matter, I fully expect the AFP to imminently raid the offices of Taylor and the homes of his LNP staffers who may have been involved in the forgery and falsification of the Sydney City Council documents.

    More learned AIMN contributors may however need to refresh my ancient memory : do AFP raids only apply to those who could embarrass the government ?

  60. Harry Lime

    That photo of J.Edgar Tuber puts me in mind of a large poster doing the rounds in 1974, the subject being a certain Richard Milhouse Nixon (who would be right at home in the current corrupt,Liarbrals) the caption being
    “Would you buy a used car from this man”.Probably not.

  61. Roswell

    Harry, they had a similar cartoon on Nixon when he ran against Kennedy. Nixon had a goatee beard in those days, so a cartoon of him with horns and holding a pitchfork made him look like the devil. I think the caption was the same; “Would you buy a used car off this man?”

    If ever a cartoon killed an election campaign, that was it.

    Nixon shaved off his beard in time for his next campaign.

  62. Kaye Lee

    Susan,

    You may not be aware of the Galileo Movement. Perhaps it is you who should do some informative bedtime reading about the credibility of your sources. Here are a few articles I have written about those crackpots

    The Galileo Movement was started by two retired men, one was formerly paid by mining companies and the other is a former engineer who owns an air-conditioning company. They apparently formed with the express intention of stopping the carbon tax. Alan Jones is their patron and the usual suspects are named as “expert advisers”, a list which until recently included Andrew Bolt. (When Bolt dumps you you KNOW you are out there.)

    Fruitcakes of a Feather

    Roberts is/was the project manager for the climate sceptic group the Galileo Movement. The mission of the Galileo Movement was to see the “carbon tax” repealed and to cast doubt on the science of climate change.

    Meet Malcolm Roberts, Pauline Hanson’s “expert” on climate change.

    n April 2011, Roberts was appointed as the project manager for the climate science denial group The Galileo Movement, which has a central aim to fight any measures to place any price on emissions of carbon dioxide. Their message to readers is this:

    Good people need to do three things:

    Demand their federal MP vote against any action on Nature’s essential trace gas, CO2.
    Donate to the non-profit Galileo Movement so real scientists can be heard in the media to pressure politicians. We need this to counter climate propaganda being spread by millions of dollars of taxpayer funded false advertising and billions of taxpayer dollars promoting pseudo-environmental programs and Climate Commission contrivances.
    Speak up and speak out. Tell your friends about the scientific untruths and the scientific facts, and about The Galileo Movement
    Print and distribute the flyer

    That seemed like 4 to me but hey, numbers aren’t their strong point.

    Quality of sources matters

  63. Susan Sasson

    Hi Kaye,

    Thank you for your response, yes I know of the Galileo Movement and have researched it over the years, that said, did you read the whole document I gave the link too ? It seems you have just picked on one very small thing in it. The reason I posted it was because people were doubting the existence of UN Agenda 21 and UN agenda 2030, calling it a conspiracy theory. The link was provided because it contained a lot of direct government links to validate, without question of a doubt that the UN agenda’s exist and are being implemented in almost every policy, bill, action, by our federal government, as well as local councils.
    The UN is running Australia’s policy making processes, our government is doing next to nothing except implementing the agendas. The UN has a strategy on EVERYTHING, how it wants us to live, what to think, what we eat, where we live, what industries we can have, insidious controlling of the masses, sound familiar? It should. UN agenda 21 and UN agenda 2030 are recipes for Global Socialism !

    https://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/22267-un-agenda-2030-a-recipe-for-global-socialism

    https://dfat.gov.au/aid/topics/development-issues/2030-agenda/Documents/sdg-voluntary-national-review.pdf

  64. Matters Not

    Susan Sasson before reading any links I check the source. Your primary link is to a magazine titled The New American described thus by Wiki:

    The New American (TNA) is a far-right print magazine published twice a month by American Opinion Publishing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the John Birch Society (JBS), a far-right organization

    Really, you should do your homework. Or if you have, then your judgement(s), including research skills, are sadly lacking.

    Have a nice day – as the yanks would say.

  65. Kaye Lee

    Susan,

    The Rio Declaration is an entirely nonbinding and voluntary agreement which 178 countries entered into at the Rio Earth Summit almost thirty years ago.

    It’s not a treaty, does not override national sovereignty and does not allow the UN to dictate what governments do. It has no legal force and is not intended to be implemented in a top-down way.

    Your paranoia about a decades old paper on sustainability guidelines is misplaced. The UN has nothing to do with running our country.

    Let go of the reds under the bed mentality. There are real things to worry about.

    As for….cue scary music….socialism…..are you suggesting that we should stop socialism in this country? You want to get rid of medicare, the PBS, public hospitals, public education, public transport, public housing, the aged pension, Newstart, disaster relief, and all those other terrible socialist practices?

  66. Susan Sasson

    Well that just shows me how little you know and understand about how UN treaties and agreements work.
    Let me try to enlighten you with this example (but not limited to), the ‘UN Global Compact for Migration’. Many people and the media were concerned that their right to freedom of speech would be taken away by the agreement and some argued that it was a non binding agreement and in technically they were right, but how the UN works now is that their agreements and treaties stipulate in them, that countries MUST ENACT AND LEGISLATE LAWS to enforce the agreement in their countries. So although the UN is not making their agreement binding, they are in fact forcing signatory countries to make it binding through legislation in their own countries and those who sign off on it, agree to legislate its enforcement into law.

    You are so far behind the ball it is disturbing.

    I thought you might be a Socialist / Communist leaner, you have confirmed it now and yes Australian’s at all costs must stop a Socialist government EVER being elected in our country. Socialism’s end goal is Communism and most people with an ounce of intelligence knows that. Socialism has never worked, go visit a Socialist country and see how you like it. Socialist country’s almost always end up being run by dictators who end up killing millions. Go read your History books.

  67. Susan Sasson

    @Matters Not

    Prove the article is wrong, provide your evidence please, just saying it is far right and dismissing the argument and running away, is simply not a good enough.

  68. Michael Taylor

    Matter Not run away? 😳

    Not likely, Susan.

    And let’s turn it around: how about you prove it’s right?

  69. Michael Taylor

    ”Well that just shows me how little you know …”

    ”Let me try to enlighten you …”

    ” …most people with an ounce of intelligence knows that.”

    ”Go read your History books.“

    Susan, must you be so condescending?

  70. Susan Sasson

    @Michael Taylor I am not the one challenging its content. 🙄

  71. Susan Sasson

    “Your paranoia about a decades old paper on sustainability guidelines is misplaced”.
    “Let go of the reds under the bed mentality”

    I rest my case…… 🤔🙄🤣

  72. Kaye Lee

    Susan, do you understand how laws get made in this country? Are you suggesting that the UN is forcing MPs to vote a certain way on bills? How are they doing that?

    “how the UN works now is that their agreements and treaties stipulate in them, that countries MUST ENACT AND LEGISLATE LAWS to enforce the agreement in their countries.”

    Rubbish.

    As for the Global Compact for Migration, it “is non-legally binding. It is grounded in values of state sovereignty, responsibility-sharing, non-discrimination, and human rights, and recognizes that a cooperative approach is needed to optimize the overall benefits of migration, while addressing its risks and challenges for individuals and communities in countries of origin, transit and destination.”

    What scares you about that?

    Are you against immigration?

    Are you against vaccination?

    And can we please drop the reds under the bed rot.

  73. Matters Not

    Susan Sasson, in any rational (legitimate) discussion the onus of proof is always with the person making the claim. Would you seriously ask me, for example, to prove that the Spaghetti Monster doesn’t exist? Or to prove that the Easter Bunny doesn’t deliver the eggs? Or to prove that 2 plus 2 doesn’t equal 5.

    In short: Whoever makes a claim carries the burden of proof regardless of positive or negative content in the claim So it’s up to you to substantiate your claims/assertions re the UN. Or perhaps my stance is wrong? If so, then you have made a philosophic break-through that changes the future of such discussions. Proving a negative – hilarious. (Makes me wonder re the ‘research’ you have done?)

    As an aside and as someone who oversaw legislative processes for a decade or so, could you please tell me when (at what stage) the UN intervenes. And the means employed? Take your time.

  74. Michael Taylor

    Susan, doing this to me (🙄) won’t get you very far.

  75. Matters Not

    Susan Re:

    go visit a Socialist country and see how you like it.

    Not sure how you define socialist or even if you think the concept needs some form of clarification, but at a very superficial level, I have indeed visited a number of ‘socialist’ countries. Been to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, for example, which some Americans regard as socialist. So in your view – are they? Just for the record, I loved them – or at least some aspects. Been to Britain also. Liked their socialised medicine but didn’t like their very capitalist like accommodation charges, particularly in London and surrounds.

    Also visited Russia, Vietnam and China (a few times) and while there’s much to be liked there’s some things I didn’t like BUT then again there’s not a Nation in the world that I haven’t liked and/or disliked to some extent. Also visited Turkey a few times because I am very interested in religion and it’s a great place to learn and reflect. You ought to try it. The reflection bit at least.

    Does that help?

  76. Matters Not

    And before I retire, may I also reference Susan at 8:43 pm re:

    dismissing the argument and running away, is simply not a good enough.

    Hopefully, I didn’t dismiss the argument because I don’t believe you made a logical case for anything of substance. In short, there was nothing to respond to.

    Perhaps you will again see my impending departure as another running away? So how should I see your ‘withdrawal’? Just catching your breath?

  77. Glenn K

    Re: Susan “go visit a socialist country and see how you like it”.
    Well,….. i lived in Australia for 30 years and 3 years ago i moved to a social democratic country where socialism is a big thing and highly valued…..France. My family love it. Free healthcare, free schooling through to university, excellent sporting facilities in even the smallest village, the list goes on and on. Lots of strikes too, but they are accepted as part of the peoples political engagement – why? Because it works, the politicians listen to the protests. Great to live in a country where everyone knows their history, and part of that history includes lopping off the head of their last and final King.
    Australia needs to take a few lessons from France and learn not to be so apathetic and sheeple-like. I love Australia but could not accept raising my children in an emerging neo-liberal paradise. It offends my sense of justice and equality. France isn’t perfect, but at least the majority of the people are engaged in making their society a better place for everyone. And that goes a long way. By the way, the French Constitution protects the right to strike. In Australia it is against the law – unless you get permission from the FWC. Good luck with that.

  78. Roswell

    After all these years ‘socialism’ is still a dirty word. I can’t believe it.

  79. Kaye Lee

    Only because people don’t know what it means.

    Susan says “Socialism’s end goal is Communism and most people with an ounce of intelligence knows that.”

    I once started a conversation with Young Liberals online. They are brought up spitting when they say socialism but they have no idea what it means. They see it as an attack on their hard-inherited wealth. Yet they very happily take handouts for daddy’s business, or grants for their local polo club, or government subsidies for their private school education and private health insurance, or tax concessions that see them paying zero towards the country that is helping to maintain their wealth.

    “Originating within the socialist movement, social democracy has embraced a mixed economy with a market that includes substantial state intervention in the form of income redistribution, regulation and a welfare state.”

    The rich hate those things. If your parents can’t give you the deposit for a house then tough luck you. And poor people don’t drive, says the man who has a car and driver paid for by us everywhere he goes.

  80. A Commentator

    Re Glenn K.

    That’s an odd decision. Australia has a lower Gini index than France, meaning there is more equitable distribution of wealth.

    https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/wealth-distribution-income-inequality

    I’m a regular visitor to France, and I can fully understand people choosing to live there for the sensational cultural and culinary experience.

    But for the form of government and social cohesion? I’m afraid I think that’s nonsense

  81. Matters Not

    Re ‘socialism’

    Only because people don’t know what it means.

    That’s because any concept requires defining, (the giving of meaning) if it is to be useful in any discussion. Hitler, for example, led the National Socialist Workers Party of Germany but the majority of historians don’t see Hitler as a socialist (given normative meaning). In the US, Sanders uses the word freely with approbation while Trump uses it as a slur but neither make any serious attempt to define the term.

    While the US Presidential election will see the word used again and again, the ensuing ‘discussion’ will nevertheless generate more heat than light. Such is life.

  82. Glenn K

    Re: A Commentator.
    One could write a min thesis on the flaws of the gini index a a measurement of social equality.perhaps a better measurement is how does a society treat its poor and the attempts it makes to help them. An interesting statistic bandied about over the recent strikes in France regarding attempts to change the pension rules and retirement age (another successful strike in France, by the way). Pensioner poverty in France is 2.8% ie. Pensioners living below the poverty line. What’s the rate in Australia right now?? Somewhere around 24%?
    If your impressions of France is all about culture and food, then you are uniformed. I suggest you research a bit about the 45,000+ mayors in France, the history behind their existence and power, and the important role they play in French society. Wealth can be distributed in many ways, not just individually. French mayors and their role in France is but one example of better government and social cohesion.

  83. A Commentator

    That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that mass strikes are a sign of social cohesion.

    Ditto for the lengthy and often violent protests during the past year, and the vast numbers of displaced people that live on median strips and in poverty.

    Look at the political reaction to all this – an extreme right wing movement that win elections across the country.

    France is a wonderful and interesting country, but it is deeply and visibly divided.

  84. Dr. Linda Ashton

    The document is actually science based and very detailed. That’s probably why it’s in Dutton’s drawer. It would make an excellent framework for a national bipartisan climate change disaster policy. Huge taxpayer funding to produce. Morrison has just recently started repeating the word “resilience.” I doubt however that all the web links will remain available much longer. I have some here for quick reference and download. https://www.facebook.com/599463704/posts/10157359375413705/?d=n

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